Stories
Former IIT Director's Blueprint to Tackle Student Mental Health Crisis
- •A former IIT director proposes a comprehensive blueprint to address the growing mental health crisis among university students, focusing on academic pressure, financial stress, and social adjustment issues.
- •Challenges include inadequate academic performance, poor hostel living conditions, burnout, procrastination, and digital distractions, affecting students across the IIT system and other universities.
- •The blueprint emphasizes making counseling services more effective, establishing strong faculty-student relationships, and creating a positive, engaging ecosystem through activities and creative centers.
- •Suggestions include allowing five years for baccalaureate degrees, reforming evaluation with open-book components, implementing flipped classrooms, and continuous evaluation for lab courses.
- •The plan also advocates for ombudsmen in hostels, additional chances for academically deficient students, and fostering resilience to help students overcome failures and personal hurdles.
Key Questions Answered
Suggested reforms include extending the baccalaureate degree time limit to five years, introducing a minimum of 40 to 50 percent open-book evaluation components, conducting at least one flipped classroom course per semester, eliminating final examinations for laboratory courses through continuous evaluation, and providing academically deficient students with extra chances to clear backlogs to prevent termination.
A unique Centre for Creativity was established at IIT-Guwahati to nurture performing arts and act as a stressbuster for students. This centre ran zero-credit courses every semester in Indian classical dance, instrumental music, and Hindustani vocal music, providing students with a dedicated space to joyfully express their emotions and creativity.
Counselling services must be vibrant and made more effective to help new entrants adjust quickly so they can achieve academic excellence and personal growth. These services should feature teams of faculty counsellors and student guides, where faculty establish close, sympathetic relationships with students that last throughout their stay and beyond.
